Vending machine



Jan, 27. 1925:

W. O. SPEAR VENDING MACHINE Filed Nov. 1, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 dpewIan. 27. 1925. 1,524,588

, W. O. SPEAR VENDING MACHINE Filed Nov. 1, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Patented Jan. 27, 1925.

WILLIAM OTIS SPEAK,

rarest OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

VENDING MACHINE.

Application filed November 1, 1921.. Serial No. 512,122.

To all IO/Z0712, it mag concern:

1 Be it known that I, WVILLIAM ()Tis torn-m,

a citizen of the United States, residing in.

Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Vending Machines; and I do hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to improvements in vending machines andhas'for an object to provide an improved vending machine for thedistribution of merchandise, such as match packages, used mainly foradvertising purposes.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved vendingmachine of a substantially low compact character in which a plurality ofmagazines are provided 1 side by side to hold quantities of themerchandise, in combination with a single ejection device cooperatingwith all of the magazines and adapted toeject the articles in sequencefrom the several stacks held in the magazines. V A further object of theinvention resides in providing improved means for actuating the ejectingdevice which is under the control of a locking mechanism adapted to bereleased by a coin for putting the machine in condition for delivery.

Vith the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention will be morefully described hereinafter, and will be more particularly pointed outin the claim appended hereto. 7

In the drawings, wherein like symbols refer to like or correspondingparts throughout the several views,v

Fig. l is a front elevation of an improved vending machine constructedaccording t the invention; 1

Fig; 2 is a top plan view thereof with the cover open and partly brokenaway;

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 33 in Fig. 1;

' Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the parts in a subsequent position;and

Fig. 5 is atransverse section taken on the line 55 also in Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, l designates a casing orcabinet having a top 2 hinged at 3 to the back of the with. the pin. 7

of the cabinetfor the cabinet and a bottom 4 pivoted at 5 front of thecabinet.

Both top and bottom are preferably flanged, and the top is securedclosed against unauthorized tampering preferably by some such lockingdevice as illustrated. For instance a staple 6 projects from the top 2and is engaged by a hasp 7 pivoted at on a bracket 9 riveted orotherwise secured to the front cabinet wall.

to the A padlock 10 is 1,5245% Pics. 7

secured through the staple 6 above the hasp I p 7, a key to which isretained by the proprietor of the machine.

. The bottom 4 is preferably accessible 'for opening through the top 2,and to this end carries a pivoted keeper 11 associated with a spring 12acting to maintain the keeper interlocked with a pin113 fixed inbrackets 14' carried by the interior portion of the back wall of thecabinet near its lower. edge.

A curvednose 15 on the keeper llisprovided to strike the pinl8 in orderto guide the keeper forwardly against the influence ot' the spring 12 inclosing the'bottom 4, whereby such keeper is enabled to moveautomatically into interlocking position The keeper is providedwith alug or extension l6 projecting forwardly to receive a rod or the likelet down through the top purpose of releasing it from the pin.

Av plurality of magazine compartments are provided in the cabinet'l atits upper forward portion by the use of partitions 17 in conjunctionwit-h a bottom wall 18 and rear walls'19; Upon thebottom wall 18 in eachcompartment are stacked articles of merchandise '20 preferably flatpackages of matches bearing suitable advertising matter.

Glass. panels 21 are provided in the front portions of the variouscompartments for prospective purchasers to view the merchandise and toacquaint themselves with the condition ot'themachine so that they willnot be led to insert a coin when all of the magazine compartments areempty.

Follower blocks 22 are placed upon the stacks 20 of the merchandise andcoil spring 23 may be interposed between the blocks 22 and the top 2. v

A drum 24 is journaled on a shaft 25 in the lower portion of the cabinetand it excompartments. The drum 24 carries pairs of pins 26 at variousangular positions on the drum, as will be apparent from Fig. 1.

The pins are adapted to come into contact.

with the rear end portions of the articles 20 and for this purpose slots27 are made in the compartment bottoms 18. The angular disposition ofthe pins 26 will bring the same successively into contact with thearticles in successive compartments so that the stacks of articles willbe depleted in unison and will preserve a straight line across the glasspanels 21. The articles 20 are delivered from the bottoms of the packsthrough discharge openings 28 made in the front wall of the cabinet andon to an apron 29 formed by extending the bottoms 18 of the compartmentsthrough the openings 28.

The drum 24 at one end is provided with ratchet teeth 30 cooperatingwith a pawl 31 pivotally carried by a vertically reciprocating slide 32.TAt 33 the pawl is shown to be pivoted to the slide and a spring 34yieldingly holds the pawl 31 against the ratchet teeth. The slide restsat its lower end upon a spring 35 secured in brackets 36 within thecabinet. The slide 32 includes a front plate 36 having a finger piece 37projecting through a slot 38 made in the front cabinet wall.

The plate 36 reciprocates in guides 39 carried by the interior face ofthe front wall of the cabinet. A coin chute 40 is provided in thecabinet having an upper curved end spaced from a slot 41 also made inthe front cabinet wall above the slot 38. A movable section 42 of thecoin chute is carried by the slide 32 and is provided with pins 43adapted to be engaged by a pair of hooks 44 carried on a sleeve 45turning about the spindle 46. The intermediate portion of the sleevecarries a depending tongue 47 lying loosely in the upper open portion ofthe coin chute section 42.

In operation, a penny or coin of other denomination is inserted throughthe slot 41 as shown in dotted lines at 48 in Fig. 3. The upper edge ofthe coin encounters the tongue 47 and swings the hooks 44 to the dottedline position. The pins 43 are thereby released and the coin chutesection 42 and slide32 may be moved down by the finger piece 37. Thecondition of the parts when so shifted is shown in Fig. 4.

During this movement the pawl 31 will advance the drum 24 through anangular distance sufficient to cause one set of the pins 26 to engagewith and eject an article 20 through the delivery slot 28. The spring 35will again lift the slide and cause the memes parts to be restored toinitial position, where they are interlocked against fraudulentactuation by the engagement of the hooks v44 with the pins 43.

The articles 20 will be pushed downwardly in sequence by the followerblocks 22 and springs 23 and all magazines are replenished by theproprietor after opening the top 2. Should the drum or its actuatingmechanism need resetting, adjustment or repairs, access may be hadthereto through the bottom 4.

From the foregoing it will be understood that I have provided a simpleand compact vending machine more particularly for the distribution ofsmall merchandise intended to distribute advertising matter and that themachine may beeconomically made and will not be apt to easily get out oforder.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in thedetails of. construction and design of the above specifically describedembodiment of this invention with out departing from the spirit thereof,such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of thefollowing claim.

lVhat is claimed is:

A vending machine casing having a hinged top, a hinged bottom, a groupof partitions arranged at the front portion of the casing andintermediate thereof to provide a plurality of magazines for goods to bevended and a bottom compartment with a vertical passage extendingv alongthe rear wall of the casing from the bottom of the compartment throughthe top of the casing, a single delivery member arranged in the bottomcompartment and extending entirely across the lower ends of saidmagazines for delivering articles one at a time consecutively therefrom,an exterior lock for the top closure to control access to the entirecasing, 'a keeper pivotally mounted upon the inner side of the bottomclosure near the free end thereof and normally extending upwardly intothe casing in line with said vertical passage, a pin on the inner wallof the casing for interlocking engagement with the keeper, a springcarried by the bottom and bearing against said keeper to urge the sameinto interlocking relation with said pin, and a lug projecting inwardlyfrom the outer extremity of the keeper and presenting a cavity for thereception of a tool introduced through said vertical passage when thetop of the casing is open for releasing the keeper from the pin.

7 WILLIAM OTIS SPEAR.

